SPORTING LIFE: Mayor’s Race gets a new route

Tuesday

Apr 26, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Saturday’s fifth Annual Mayor’s Cup 5K road race will take participants on a new route, one that Tuscaloosa Track Club president Carol Moore-Smith says both accomplished runners and beginners will enjoy.

By Becky HopfSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

TUSCALOOSA | Saturday’s fifth Annual Mayor’s Cup 5K road race will take participants on a new route, one that Tuscaloosa Track Club president Carol Moore-Smith says both accomplished runners and beginners will enjoy.It’s the largest race the city hosts each year, averaging more than 700 participants. Two week’s before this year’s event, some 570 runners had already pre-registered.For the first time, the race will begin at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater downtown on Jack Warner Parkway, on the banks of the Black Warrior River. The race starts at 8 a.m., rain or shine.“In the past, the race always incorporated City Hall and running downtown,” Moore-Smith said. “This year, we’re going to start from the amphitheater and run down Jack Warner Parkway and then come back. It’s got a couple of rolling hills in the course. Most of the course is in the hot sunlight, and it’s going to be a hot one. This time of the year, this is always a hot run. Very humid.“It is challenging. It just depends on if you want to go all out or if you want to just take it easy and trot. It depends on the person. It’s a good one to start out with (for beginners). It does have a lot of people, but most runners are very forgiving when there are a lot of runners in a race because you always find your little niche where you need to be, so it’s not a problem at all. Most participants will be walkers, and they’ll be straggling toward the back, so they won’t be bothering the die-hard runners, the ones who are really going out for (personal records).”Because there are few turns on the course, Moore-Smith believes times will be faster.The race has been a hit from the start, drawing more than 500 participants the first year in 2007.“This race is very synonymous for people walking up the day of and registering. Usually they have more than 200 walk-ups. We expect, easily, between seven and eight hundred people,” Moore-Smith said.Among the hundreds expected to participate will be Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, who was behind the event’s inception and established the Tuscaloosa Pre-K Initiative to be beneficiary. Maddox has also run in the previous four races.“I am thrilled that the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater can host our 5K,” the mayor said by email. “As evident by the USA Triathlon, it is a magnificent venue that is a perfect venue for hosting the race. Last year, I had a personal record of 21:58 and I am aiming for 21:30 this year.”Part of the popularity of the event is that it is a Grand Prix race.“Grand Prix races get more turnout than the regular races,” said Moore-Smith. “Track club members get points for running Grand Prix races and placing. Those points accumulate over a year’s span, and at the end of the year when we have our banquet those points are added up and people get different awards. That’s why a lot of people will be attracted to a Grand Prix race moreso than a regular race.”Participants may pre-register on-line on either the Tuscaloosa Track Club’s website (www.tuscaloosatrackclub.com), or the City of Tuscaloosa’s website (http://ci.tuscaloosa.al.us). Registration will also be held at the amphitheater the morning of the race from 7-7:45 a.m. Cost is $20. The post-race awards presentation will be around 10 a.m. In addition to door prizes for the participants, awards will be given to the top female and top male finshers; top male and female grandmaster participants; top female and male master participants; and for first-, second- and third-place finishes in each age group for both males and females.

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